The observation that in life "the
only constant thing is change"
is paradoxically also true in the world
of music - for many a vital part of
life! The guitar and those genres in
which it exists are prime examples of
this change.

Flamenco guitar is
in a state of dynamic flux and within
a few decades has evolved from being
predominantly an instrument of accompaniment
to one of sophisticated solo status.
Modern champions such as Paco de Lucia
have not only refined and developed
technique but infused within traditional
flamenco elements of modern music, especially
jazz.

In Brazil, violão
Brasileiro, the guitar style that
encompasses the classical guitar tradition,
popular and Brazilian folk music, has
been revived and extended by Raphael
Rabello, the guitarist featured on this
new disc from GSP. His influence on
the Brazilian guitar has been compared
to that of Paco de Lucia on flamenco.
Rio’s Jornal do Brasil called
him the re-inventor of the Brazilian
guitar and attributed to him a contribution
of new energy paralleling that which
emanated from Baden Powell during the
bossa nova era.

Raphael Rabello was
born in 1962 in Petropolis, the old
imperial capital in the mountains above
Rio de Janeiro. He studied with Dino
Meira (Jaime Tomás Florence)
who was also a teacher of Baden Powell.

At the behest of Herminio
Bello de Carvalho, who also later produced
two of his discs, Raphael made a first
television appearance when he was only
13 years old. At this stage he was known
as Raphael Sete Cordas (Seven-String
Raphael) because of his mastery of the
7-string guitar - an instrument that
is central to the choro.

Most of the music heard
on this disc is drawn from the choro
tradition. The etymological roots of
the word ‘choro’ appears unclear; one
opinion centres on derivation from the
Portuguese "chorar" (to weep)
on account of the plangent vibrato on
the higher strings; another opinion
has it deriving from the African word
"Xôlo" which means a
vocal concert. In current parlance ‘choro’
can either mean the instrumental ensemble
per se or the occasion/session
in which the musicians get together
to play.

At the end of the 19th
century the word ‘choro’ was yet unknown
to such sessions; participants would
play gavottes, polkas, mazurkas and
waltzes without rhythmic accompaniment
as this was only added later and invariably
discreetly. Slowly all such music played
in the Brazilian spirit (viz. in syncopated
rhythm and with most compositions being
in 2/4 time) came to be known as ‘choro’.

In Brazil the choro
is in itself a classical form of popular
music such is the instrumental difficulty
both in solos and accompaniment. It
further qualifies on account of the
highly developed form evident in compositions
such as Agustin Barrios’ "Choro
da Saudade" or João Pernambuco’s
"Choros".

Heitor Villa-Lobos,
himself a Chorão, (a choros-player)
once said of Pernambuco: "Bach
would not have been ashamed to sign
his studies". Probably the greatest
homage to this kind of music was made
by Villa-Lobos who composed a striking
series of choros, the first of which
was for guitar.

But Raphael Rabello
was not merely a choro specialist. In
his very first LP he included music
by Jobim, Barrios and Garoto. Although
Rabello never abandoned the choro he
quickly moved on to modernize his guitaristic
approach to "Brazilian Popular
Music"(MPB) - more closely linked
to the samba.

The five original choros
by Rabello (one in collaboration with
Toquinho) on this disc testify to his
mastery of the form and in themselves
are an important contribution to the
genre.

Also on this disc are
older works by Pixinguinha and João
dos Santos a guitarist/composer active
in the 1940/1950s. Canhoto de Paraíba
(Francisco Soares de Araujo b.1928)
is from Recife in N-E Brazil and is
well known in Rio. The pieces by Garoto
and Almeida reflect a modern approach.
Baden Powell demonstrates a true affinity
for the choro. Probably Brazil’s best-known
guitarist, his fame centres on samba
and bossa nova. Passaredo is an MPB
song by Francis Hime. Its popularity
was established in 1976, with a rendition
by the inimitable Chico Buarque.

The general quality
of the music presented reminds one of
the mastery which fellow Brazilian,
pianist/composer Ernesto Nazareth (1865-1934)
demonstrated over the waltz/tango format
(Naxos 8.557687).

The crowning glory
of this new disc is Rabello’s spellbinding
musicianship and technical facility.
While, especially in Brazil, any pronouncement
of a "best guitarist" is probably
short-lived, those with an understanding
of the guitar and this music will be
amazed.

This is a very well
recorded disc due, in part, to insistence
by Rabello that small microphones be
placed inside his guitar for recording
purposes. The one notable exception
is Sete Cordas (tr. 13) in which the
audio quality is appreciably different.
This track was recorded during his "warm-up"
period, captured by two microphones
that happened to be on at the time,
and fortuitously preserved. It is a
hauntingly beautiful interpretation
and a fitting mood to close this album;
sadly Raphael Robello’s last. He died
shortly after its completion.

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